


Angel Food Cake

by Wlwhirai



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Heavy Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Sorry Not Sorry, awkward food banter, but yeah someone dies, culinary school au, cute fluff and stuff, gays being dumb, the STRESS
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-05-07 10:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14668926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wlwhirai/pseuds/Wlwhirai
Summary: People usually find themselves at cooking schools for different reasons. Some actually want to join the industry that is culinary arts, never to see the light of day again. Others, such as Na Jaemin, use this experience to pad out their CVs and make them look more intelligent. The last group of people have no idea what they want to do with their lives, so this is a sort of last resort for them. Lee Jeno fits into the third category.





	1. Victoria Sponge

Jaemin irons his shirt, humming a gentle melody to himself. Although he loves waking up early, he finds himself wondering why he’d go through these lengths for a cooking school.  _Not that cooking’s bad_ , he reasons to himself, but he was used to more intellectually demanding things. Jaemin was the type of person to spend hours preparing a debate or a chemistry Olympiad, but giving up valuable time learning how to make pasta? Universities better appreciate this. Quickly, he slips his shirt on and gathers his things together.

“Are you ready to go?” Jaemin’s mum calls from the bottom of the stairs.

Grabbing his suitcase, Jaemin takes one final look at his bedroom, “Yep, just a second!”

Jaemin lugs the heavy bag down the stairs, each step bringing him closer to his future.

And that was the beginning for him.

 

***

 

Jeno is on a run, listening to music to clear his head. He’s headed to cooking school soon, to see if he’s cut out for it. He’s never really cooked before, but he likes eating, so maybe he’d be decent at it. He hasn’t told his parents yet, but maybe he’d find a cute boyfriend to cook for him just in case he can’t cook for himself. He’s innovative like that. Once he gets home, he has a quick shower and tries to make himself look presentable.

“Mum, can we leave now?” Jeno grabs an apple as he waits to leave the house.

He’s weirdly excited, not only about the boyfriend part, but about the learning new skills part. He hopes cooking will be something he actually enjoys, perhaps even a new passion.

And what was the beginning for him.

 

***

 

“If everyone looks at their introductory packets, you’ll find your roommate assignments and lesson groups.” Mr Lee announced to the students.

Mr Lee looked intimidating, with silvery hair and a jawline that could cut a person. He sounded intimidating too, with a deep voice that commanded attention. However, Jaemin heard him giggling to someone over the phone earlier, a complete change from the way he was presenting himself currently.

Jaemin looked at the sheet of paper. For the next year, he’d be living with a Zhong Chenle. He was assigned to five different classes over the course of the year. Butchery, health and nutrition, Korean food, Italian food and patisserie. Korean food and nutrition were compulsory, but he figured he’d broaden is horizons a little. Knowing how to chop meat up accurately would be a big help for medical school, and he liked eating pasta. Patisserie was a toss-up, but maybe it would be fun. Besides, people like dessert.

Once they were dismissed, the voices of 200 students filled the auditorium. The sounds of excitement, confusion and general teenage angst drowned out anything Jaemin was thinking. He walked purposefully to the accommodation block, wincing when he heard a loud screech.

“Room 127, nice,” he muttered to himself, reaching into his pocket for his keys.

 

“Oh shit.”

 

This was just great, he thought to himself. New school, new life, and no key. Jaemin didn’t want to go back to the office and admit he had lost his keys so he sat by the door and plugged his headphones in. Countless people walked down the corridor, opened their doors and went into their rooms. Like they were supposed to. A familiar sounding boy echoed through the corridors, piercing through Jaemin’s music, and all he could think was please not me, please not me.

This was his second oh shit moment, and it was only 11am. His eyes followed the boy as he took a key, unlocked the door, walked in, and closed the door again.

 

Wait.

 

Jaemin pounded on the door, annoyed. It was obvious he was sitting outside his room, so what was this guy playing at?

 

“Excuse me? Can you let me in please?”

 

Chenle opened the door, looking confused. He was slightly shorter than Jaemin, with light brown curly hair.

 

His expression changed when he clocked who was standing in front of him, turning into a cheeky smile, “So I’m guessing you’re Na Jaemin. Not what I was expecting, but you’ll do. Come in!”

 

Awkwardly, Jaemin stumbled in and looked at his room. Decently sized, with two single beds, a desk each and an en suite bathroom. He dumped his bag on the floor and flopped onto the bed. He didn’t care Chenle was still talking, and Chenle didn’t seem to mind he wasn’t being listened to.

 

“The en suite is nice, but I don’t know if I can handle a single bed for a year. Is this really how the common folk live?” Chenle sighed, a slight air of haughtiness.

 

Now that was enough to make Jaemin sit up and listen, “Excuse me?” He began but was cut off instantly.

 

“I’m kidding!” Chenle laughed, “I just wanted to know if you were paying attention.”

 

“Sorry, I wasn’t really,” Jaemin replied, “I’m so tired.”

 

Chenle nodded, “Don’t sweat it. I’ll find out everything about you later. At least we don’t have any planned activities today. Maybe once you nap we can go socialise?”

 

“Sounds good,” Jaemin said, and fell asleep immediately afterwards.

 

He dreamt of an altered reality. One where he wasn’t so academically inclined. One where is knowledge about science became talent for something for creative. Singing, perhaps, maybe dancing. Sometimes he’d sing and dance along to the songs on his phone, but it wasn’t deep. Just a little bit of fun. He was walking on clouds, and the sky was light purple, dusted with flecks of blue. University stress was gone suddenly, a huge weight was lifted from his chest. He wondered, is this what happiness felt life? Jaemin was no stranger to this dream, yet every time he had it, it was as if he was he was experiencing a new emotion all over again. Complete bliss. He hoped one day he’d experience that awake sometime. He knew that day wouldn’t be soon. He hoped it would though.

Jaemin awoke to what looked like a mini party. Chenle was hosting a couple other people, and they were chattering as if they’d known each other for years. Trying not to embarrass himself, Jaemin sat up slowly, and attempted to stifle a yawn.

It didn’t work.

 

“And Sleeping Beauty awakes!” Chenle laughed, “Come, friend. Join us.”

 

Sensing his roommate was still drowsy, Chenle pointed to the others on his bed, “This is Yeri, this is Yukhei and this is Renjun.”

 

Jaemin looked at his watch, and let out a surprised yelp, “3pm already? Yikes.”

 

Chenle chuckled, “It’s ok. We still have time to go out and make more friends. Yeri said there’s a welcome party thing going on later. We should go. You should make friends.”

 

“Let’s do it,” Jaemin replied.

 

Once he looked less tired, Jaemin joined Chenle’s new friends in mindless banter. Yeri and Yukhei were older than the others, but Yeri looked young and Yukhei acted it so no one really noticed the age difference. Yeri was full of sarcastic humour and dry jokes. She was incredibly funny, and her constant roasting of Chenle made for good entertainment. Yukhei was goofy and tended to overuse words like bro, man and mate. He was one of those lads. Renjun was great, Jaemin thought. He was so funny, and the two clicked almost instantly. At one point, they had ditched the other three, and were talking about their academic futures. Renjun not only had an interest in Marine Biology but spoke about his passion for art and drawing.

Jaemin liked this guy.

Before he knew it, an hour had passed, and the group was getting ready to go downstairs and continue being social. They began the trek out of the accommodation block and down the hill to the main building. The functions room was past the reception and decorated ornately; multiple chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. The sofas were all bright yellow with accents of green and white on the cushions. People sat talking, while others loitered around the food tables.

 

Renjun poked Jaemin on the shoulder, pulling him out of another daydream, “There’s my roommate,” he said, “Do u wanna go say hi?”

 

Jaemin followed Renjun’s train of sight to boy with blond hair. His breath hitched in his throat as he realised this might be the best-looking boy he’s seen ever. His face was completely perfect, and the way he smiled completely melted Jaemin’s insides. At that moment, he wished he was either less awkward, or maybe just Renjun himself.

 

“Uh, sure.” Jaemin replied, trying to keep his nerves down.

 

Why was he so nervous? It wasn’t like he had never spoken to a cute boy in his life. His ex was cute. Back when he thought he was into girls, his ex before that was cute. Heck, Renjun was cute. But this boy? He was on a whole new level, and Jaemin didn’t know how to deal with it. And this was only his side profile. They walked up to him, and in true Renjun style, he received a sharp poke on his side.

 

He turned to face them, wincing slightly. His pained expression became another big smile upon recognising his roommate, however.

 

“Hey! I thought I wasn’t gonna see you again, “he smiled, “Is this who you ditched me for?”

 

His eyes rested on Jaemin, who was on the verge of fainting at this point. He needed to calm down, otherwise he was going to do something stupid.

 

“I’m Jaemin,” he said, threading his hand through his hair.

 

 _That was totally smooth_ , he thought to himself. It wasn’t, but it was nice to believe it for a second.

Renjun’s roommate was called Jeno, and it turned out he was studying at the school because he liked to eat. At least he was honest. After explaining he was there to make his university application look good, Jaemin hoped Jeno wouldn’t think he was a nerd or something. He definitely was a nerd, but he didn’t want Jeno to think that.

 

“That’s cool,” Jeno said, “It’s impressive actually, you must be really clever.”

 

There was that smile again. It was a great smile. Most people curled their lips upwards, so their smile looked insincere, but when Jeno smiled, he smiled with his eyes. Jaemin was most certainly whipped.

 

“Excuse me, please.” A gruff sounding voice holding a cake made his way past the group of boys and placed a cake down on the table next to them.

 

“Victoria sponge, nice one!” Jeno picked up a slice and placed it on a paper plate.

 

Jaemin and Renjun followed suit, and in no time, the three boys happily chattered while stuffing layers of cake, cream and jam into their mouths.

By 11pm, the party had fizzled out and the people still downstairs were attempting to convince themselves they weren’t tired. That was a lie; even the prospect of tomorrow’s lessons stressed them out. Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin all walked together to the accommodation block and said goodbye at the stairs leading to the second floor. It turned out the other two were staying at room 227, directly above him and Chenle.

Jaemin didn’t have to knock on his door this time, because Chenle had been holding the door open for who knows how long.

 

“You’re gonna have to find a key, dude.” Chenle said, closing the door behind his roommate.

 

Nodding, Jaemin got changed into his pyjamas and plugged his phone in to charge, “Yeah, tomorrow.”

 

“Did you have a fun evening? I didn’t see you since you disappeared with Renjun,” Chenle yawned.

 

Jaemin blushed, luckily it was dark, so no one could see, “It was good, we spent time with his roommate.”

 

“Oh, Lee Jeno? According to Yukhei, he’s a model or something. He’s supposed to be beautiful. Renjun is one lucky boy.”

 

“He’s pretty good looking, I suppose.”

 

That was an understatement.

 

“Don’t feel insecure, Jaemin. You’re good looking too. Not all us can be Mr Lee. I mean the teacher, and Jeno too I guess? Man, why do people called Lee have the best genes? I wish I could relate. What do you think, Jaemin? Jaemin? Oh yeah, you like to sleep. Night buddy.”


	2. Pain Au Chocolat

Jeno woke up at 4am as usual for his morning run. There wasn’t a gym at the school, so he had to resort to running and planks for the year.

 

_Maybe Renjun would let him squat him. He was small so it’s not like he’d drop him_. Trying not to disturb his roommate, Jeno put on a hype playlist and ran out the building.

The run was fine at first, running down the huge slope to outside the school, then out the gates and down the beachfront path. He didn’t know the area that well, so he was hoping he wouldn’t get too lost. That may have jinxed it though, Jeno didn’t have a great sense of direction. He thought about his upcoming classes as he ran. First it was a lecture on French cooking, then a workshop on how to make onion soup. After lunch, he’d have his first patisserie class. That was something he was excited for. As an athlete, he didn’t have much opportunity for desserts and sweet food, but he was going to change that. If it stays within his macro goal. He might have a cheat day at some point, but he wasn’t thinking about that yet.

The sunrise was actually quite pretty, he thought. Not to be deep but he appreciated the way the colours reflected the sea nicely. Or if he looked in the opposite direction, the sky behind the tall buildings.

He thought Renjun’s friend Jaemin was pretty as well. Not that he’d say anything, Jaemin was very obviously straight. Not that he liked him, they had just met. But he was cute. In a strictly platonic way.

Secretly, Jeno was worried he wasn’t going to make any friends at the school. He had figured everyone there was gonna want to become a professional chef and look down on him because he had never cooked before. He’d ask a snotty international student what the fuck a reduction was, and everyone would laugh at him. That hasn’t happened.

Yet.

He did actually google what that was a couple nights ago so if there was ever an opportunity to showcase that knowledge? He would be ready.

After 40 minutes, Jeno turned around and ran back to school. He hasn’t strayed from the path, so if he did get lost he’d consider himself a complete idiot.

By the time he got back, the sun had fully risen, and there were more cars driving around. Before crossing the road to the school, he sat on a ledge behind the path to take a photo of the view. One of the beaches behind him, one of the school in front. He crossed the road and made his way back to his room where Renjun was now wide awake. He sat hunched at his desk, colouring in with his copic pens. He didn’t notice Jeno come in, and looked deep in concentration, so Jeno reckoned he’d get a bit more exercise in.

As he bent down to do some press ups, Renjun turned around and waved.

 

“How was your run?”

 

Jeno decided against further exercise and lay down on his bed, splashing a bottle of cold water into his face.

 

“Decent,” he replied, “I didn’t wanna go too far just in case I got lost.”

 

Renjun nodded, “Fair enough.” And went back to his artwork.

 

Jeno didn’t have to be anywhere for a while and wasn’t quite used to it yet. Usually after his run, he’d have breakfast and do some chores before the rest of his family woke up. Aside from his academic ability, he was a model child. Literally.

 

Three years ago, he had dropped out of high school because of his lucrative modelling contract with a well-known sports brand. Weirdly enough however, he always stayed kind and humble and never showed off. He was the type of person to play with his little cousins whenever there was a family event, and kindly stay at the door to welcome people. He never complained about doing chores, aside from the normal teenage grumbling when he’d much rather play video games than wash up.

Recently though, he felt like he was being used as a gimmick and going out to do sports was more for his looks than it was for him as a person. Once he was no longer young and fit, what was he going to do with his life? That’s why he decided to take the year and decide what he wanted to do. His family were surprised by his choice to study cooking, but it was better than nothing. Graduates of the school ended up with incredible career prospects if they wanted to or if they didn’t, a couple more lines on their CV.

Jeno liked the idea of career prospects. At this point, anything was better than modelling.

 

“Breakfast is in half an hour, right?” Renjun asked, putting his pens back in the case.

 

“Uh, I think so,” Jeno replied, “Let me check.”

 

He looked at the sheet of paper pinned behind his desk and confirmed Renjun’s guess. Quickly, he got changed out of his running gear and the two headed down to the floor below. They awkwardly loitered outside room 127, debating whether to pick up Jaemin.

They didn’t have to think for long, as Jaemin’s roommate swung open the door.

 

“Let me guess,” Chenle mused, “You’re both here for Jaemin?”

 

Hearing his name, the boy in question poked his head round the door and ran his hands through his hair again.

 

“Do you, guys wanna come down to breakfast with us?” Jeno asked.

 

He hoped Chenle didn’t pick up on the space between you and guys.

He did.

 

Snorting, Chenle held the door open for Jaemin and closed it behind him, “Glad to know I’m an afterthought. Don’t sweat it though, I have tons of friends waiting for me downstairs.”

 

The group headed downstairs together, speaking about the day ahead. Coincidentally, Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin all had patisserie class in the afternoon. Chenle and Renjun were in the same Chinese cuisine class, and Chenle was also in the same Italian food class as Jaemin. Aside from that, there were no overlaps. Not that Jeno minded; he was a sociable guy and so far, no one knew who he was. And if they did, they had the decency not to mention anything. He was excited about making new friends and learning lots about food.

Once they arrived at the dining hall, they were faced with a lot of choice. There was a section for hot dishes, a section for pastries and sweeter dishes, as well as one with cereals and fruits. Jeno made a beeline for the for the hot dishes and immediately picked rice and a Caribbean dish called garlic pork. Next, he grabbed some eggs and finished with a lot of vegetables. He met up with the others, and they all chose to sit by the big window overlooking the sea.

“I’ll be back in a second, “he said, and quickly walked to the juice bar to get a smoothie.

It was a simple smoothie; mixed berries and vanilla, but it was one of his favourites. He joined his friends again who were already in deep conversation. Jeno half expected there to be some big secret by the way their heads were together but really, they were just hyping up the food.

 

Chenle eyed the smoothie and nodded in approval, “That looks delicious. I’m gonna have to get one tomorrow.”

 

“You should!” Jeno replied, “It’s really good.”

The group tucked into their respective breakfasts as a couple more people joined them. Jeno didn’t recognise them, but it seemed like the others knew who they were. They introduced themselves as Yeri and Yukhei. They were then joined by a larger group of people. He didn’t get all their names, but he was sure he heard the name Eunbin, who was also going to be in the French lecture. Yeri’s girlfriend Saeron was also part of their class, so at least Jeno would know a couple people before it started.

 

“Pay attention students!”

 

Mr Lee’s voice echoed through a megaphone leaving everyone silent.

 

“I’m glad you’re all enjoying breakfast, but your first class is in 45 minutes. Make the necessary arrangements and do not be late. For those with a practical class, chef’s whites will be prepared. If not, make sure you’re in smart clothing and don’t forget something to write with.”

 

With that, Mr Lee walked out silently. The silence continued for another 20 seconds, but as broken by the sound of a sneeze.

 

“He’s not too bad looking, is he?” Eunbin said.

 

Jaemin nodded, “That’s what I was thinking yesterday.”

 

“I’m so glad you guys agree!” Yukhei laughed,” I wanted to say something but, you know.”

 

Their chatter about Mr Lee descended into undiscernible chaos, and Jeno found himself talking to Jaemin and Yeri. Unfortunately, their conversation didn’t last very long as they had to go and try on chef’s whites or get changed into business formal.

Jeno noticed Jaemin still poking at a chocolate pastry and not being one to waste food, he decided to do something he’d never done before.

 

“Do you wanna split that?” He asked.

 

Jaemin agreed, tearing the pastry with his hands, “I overestimated how much I’d be able to eat.”

 

Jeno smiled at this and took a bite, humming in agreement. Yeri coughed behind them, Saeron quickly coming to her aid.

 

Yeri coughed again, “I’m fine! Don’t worry it’s all good.”

 

Once he was back in his room, he hurriedly looked through his suitcase to find his formal clothes. He should have organised this earlier, he knew that, but he was lazy. Renjun however, was already business dressed for his next class.

 

“Want some help?” He asked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

 

“I’m good, I just need to find- GOTCHA!”

 

30 seconds later, he was changed.

 

“Ok, let’s go,” Jeno said, picking up his bag.

 

Renjun snorted but didn’t reply. The group reconvened outside the accommodation block and went their separate ways to class. Jeno struck up conversation with Eunbin and Saeron, who both seemed like nice girls. He recognised Eunbin from a shoot last summer but chose not to say anything about it.

Their lecture hall was quite small, only sitting 25 people. The three of them sat together at the front, ready to learn. People piled in behind them, a few choosing to sit at the back to look “rebellious.” It was obvious they didn’t care about the school, so why were they even there? The lights dimmed, and a projector turned on to reveal a basic looking PowerPoint that read “the basics of French cuisine.”

 

“Good morning class,” their lecturer said, “My name is Mr Jung.”

 

There were audible gasps from the audience. Was this really Jung Jaehyun, one of the most well-known fusion chefs? His French/Korean restaurant was known as one of the best in Asia, and he was commonly known as THE standard for aspiring chefs in the country. Jeno wasn’t even into all this but he was in awe. He suddenly felt inspired, like he just had to impress him otherwise he was a terrible person.

 

“I hope he’s taking our practical class,” Eunbin whispered, nudging him in the arm, “I’d die to try his cooking. Even if it’s deep fried leaf or something.”

 

Jeno smiled but tried to keep his concentration. All the French terminology was so confusing to him, and it didn’t help that Mr Jung kept making jokes to seem like he was “down with the kids.”  _Mr Jung didn’t even look that old_ , he thought.

The lecture ended quickly, and Jeno really liked looking at the notes he had made. He intended to study them once he had some free time, but for now he’d just enjoy making some soup.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry for such a late update I've been so busy. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter; I wrote most of it half asleep so I hope it't legible haha. The next chapter should be out in a couple days, and I'll be a little less busy so I should be writing better. Thanks!


	3. Macarons

Jaemin was in a mood. His nutrition class didn’t go too badly; he, Yeri and Yukhei had solidified themselves as class clowns, yet intelligent so the teacher didn’t have too much of a problem with their banter. What didn’t go so well though, was a conversation he had with his mum shortly after the class ended. She had called him, asking about how his first class was, and whether he had made friends. It started pleasantly enough, but Jaemin knew there was something his mum wanted to let him know.

  
“What’s the matter?” He had asked.

 

There was a pause that seemed to last for eternity.

 

  
“Your first round of exam results came in.”

 

  
He inhaled sharply, “How did I do?”

 

  
“You’re in the 94th percentile for your age group,” his mum replied.

 

  
He blinked rapidly, and leant a hand against the wall,” You’re joking. I worked so hard for these, how did I do so badly?”

 

  
“Maybe it’s all the time you spend playing the fool,” she said, “I agreed you could go on this ‘course’ because it never occurred to me you could score this low but now I’m starting to wonder if I did the right thing.”

 

  
“This was my weakest subject!” He protested, “I know I did so much better in the others, I can get into a good uni and- “  
His cries were silenced by the sound of a dial tone.

  
Feeling annoyed with himself, he went back to his room to get ready for lunch. Luckily, Chenle wasn’t in there to make fun of him if and when he started crying. The tears began to fall as he loosened his tie, while sitting on the bed. He thought back to his revision sessions. Were they not intense enough? Did he not make good enough notes? Did he not utillise the teacher’s advice? Thoughts were spinning around his head, and eventually the room started to spin too. He fell face forward onto the bed and hugged his pillow, muffling out any sobs.

  
There was a rap on the door.

 

  
“Chenle’s not in here, sorry!” He yelled, removing his face from the pillow.

 

  
“It’s a good thing I’m not here for Chenle then,” Jeno said from the other side of the door.

 

  
Jaemin sighed. This was just his luck. Obviously in the middle of a crying session, the one person who wanted to see him was a cute boy.

 

  
“Uhh Jaemin’s not here either!” He said, a weak attempt at humour.

 

  
Jeno laughed anyway,” That’s a shame. We wanted to know if he’d be down for lunch?”

 

  
Oh, so there was more than one person outside,” We?”

 

  
“Yeah, Eunbin and Renjun are with me. You coming?”

 

  
“Just a second, I need to get- OOF!”

  
Jaemin tripped on his joggers in comedic fashion, falling flat on his face. His day couldn’t get any better. At this, Jeno burst in the room like a vigilante in business formal and leapt to his aid. Instantly, he noticed the dried tears on his face but thankfully didn’t say anything about them. He only squeezed his friend’s hand tightly and helped him stand up.

  
“Come on, no one cares what you’re wearing. I’m hungry as hell right now and you personally are holding me up.” Jeno tutted.

 

  
Smiling, the two boys walked out of the bedroom to eat.

 

  
“I like your vibe,” Eunbin said, “Tracksuit and shirt; you’re really rocking the whole student athlete thing.”

 

  
Renjun snorted, appreciating the dumb joke.  
Before choosing their food, the group sat down at the table together to join the others. Yukhei, Yeri, Saeron and Chenle all waved politely as they sat.  Yukhei was entertaining the group with a story about one of his exes, and how he was certain this ex was now involved with some Japanese boy he met at dance camp.

  
“This guy was definitely making eyes at my man. For YEARS.” He was saying.

 

  
Jaemin’s mind wasn’t focusing on the conversation so he tended to drop in an out to hear some strange things out of context.

 

  
“This stupid mountain troll, bet he can’t take me in a fight.”

  
“My ex just couldn’t handle such a powerful man.”

  
This ex discussion continued even as the group got up to pick their food.

  
“I once got Italian food with my ex… it was quite romantic actually.”

  
“…He broke up with me after we had doughnuts.”

  
“Why? Was I not good enough for him?”

  
“He said he loved me.”

 

  
Eventually, Yukhei was a sobbing mess, leaving Yeri and Renjun to comfort him.  Jaemin looked down at his burrito bowl, the general vibe of the table now slightly negative. Jeno took the opportunity to poke his shoulder and see what the matter was.

 

  
“About before, in your room,” Jeno whispered, “Were you ok? You still seem a little down.”

 

  
“Just exam stuff; don’t worry about it,” Jaemin replied, poking his chicken absentmindedly.

 

  
Jeno didn’t want to pry but at the same time wanted to help his friend. Jaemin noticed his worried expression and smiled kindly at him.

 

  
“Don’t worry, I was being dramatic. I’m fine, honestly.”

 

  
To prove this, he took a bite of chicken and beans, and attempted to strike up a normal conversation.

 

  
“How was French class?”

 

  
Jaemin could tell Jeno wasn’t satisfied, but appreciated the fact he didn’t push it further, and they talked about their lessons that morning and how excited they were for their next one.

 

“Boys, we are gonna have so much fun in patisserie,” Renjun said once Yukhei had been sufficiently consoled.

  
Jaemin snorted, “Which one of us is gonna fuck up first?”

  
Renjun and Jeno turned to each other, then to Jaemin, who was absolutely dumbfounded.

  
“Me? Why would I fuck up? I might be really good at this; there’s lots of science in baking, you know.”

 

  
“Yeah, but we have a bet going. You know, 227 antics.” Jeno said.

 

  
“Just for that,” Jaemin smiled, “I’m going to completely outdo you both.”

 

And as it turned out, he did just that without having to try. During the individual portion of the class, he was able to make beautiful meringues, pipe buttercream into a variety of shapes and not split any egg yolks. Jeno on the other hand, burnt his meringues in the oven and managed to curdle his buttercream. Renjun found himself more middle range. His consistencies were decent enough, but what stood out was his elegant piping skills; everyone had to take a moment and admire what he had done. Jaemin was also congratulated for his flawless execution of the task, and a couple other students were singled out for their work too.

  
The second part of the lesson was to get into fours and make 20 macarons each. Every four would be assigned a workstation, complete with a stove each, ample worktop space to prep and one oven per pair. Their teacher stressed how important it was they picked a good group, because they wouldn’t be allowed to change for the rest of the year.

 

 

“Who should we pick?”

 

  
A lot of the class was also awkwardly choosing groups, pointing at each other and nodding. An orange haired boy made eye contact with Jaemin, who waved him over. As the boy weaved himself through the small crowd, Jaemin introduced him as Donghyuck, from his nutrition class.

  
“He was in a different group of friends, but they had some good banter,” he said, “I’m sure we’ll get along.”

 

  
“If he doesn’t burn the workstation down,” Renjun chuckled, “I’m sure we’ll get along great.”

 

  
Donghyuck reached the group and nodded appreciatively at Jaemin, “Good to meet you guys!”

 

  
He smiled at Renjun and looked back at the tables, which were now being folded into spaces for the workstations, “Nice piping dude, I tried to copy your technique but ended up getting buttercream on the floor. It wasn’t pretty.”

 

  
“That was you?” Renjun muttered, his eye twitching.

 

  
The group thought back to 20 minutes ago when Renjun had almost slipped on some bright pink buttercream, and whoever had dropped it hadn’t said so much as an apology.

 

  
“Ahh, sorry,” Donghyuck said, “I really was not paying attention.”

 

  
“We could tell,” Renjun tutted, but Jeno had already moved on from the tension and clapped his new friend on the back.

 

  
“See? This is exactly what we need,” Jeno grinned, “Another flop cook for our team. Now it balances out and no one will be left behind.”

 

  
“I’m assuming you were the one who had your oven on 100 degrees too high?” Donghyuck said.

 

  
Jeno smiled even more, “Yes I was.”

 

  
Jaemin leant over to Renjun in confusion, “Why is he so proud of that?”

 

  
“It’s Jeno… he gets like this.”

 

  
The four boys made their way to the newly prepped workstation and got into pairs. Renjun grabbed Jaemin the second this command was issued as a ‘pre-emptive measure’.

 

“I just don’t want my oven to burn down,” he said.

 

  
The next task was for the boys to pick a flavour and pick up the respective ingredients for their flavour, as per the recipe. Renjun picked lemon, Donghyuck picked strawberry, leaving Jaemin cringing because apparently strawberry tasting food was disgusting. Jeno picked vanilla, leaving Jaemin with chocolate. Each of the boys scanned their menus and made quick work of picking out their ingredients and finding the scales and macaron trays.

  
Renjun bent down to preheat the oven, and already, Jaemin had something to say about it.

 

  
“What are you doing? You don’t need to preheat until the macarons are resting.”

 

  
“Resting? No, you pipe them, and they go straight in the oven!”

 

 

“No, look at the recipe. It clearly says rest them for half an hour before you put them in the oven.”

 

  
“Why would you rest them? That’s dumb.”

 

  
“You’re dumb.”

 

  
On the other side of the table, Donghyuck and Jeno had already compared recipes, and they realised the vanilla macarons had to rest to firm up. Smiling to themselves, they began to cook as the other two still argued.

  
“See? Right here! Let the macarons rest before they go in the oven.”

 

  
“Well my menu doesn’t have that.”

 

  
“That seems like a you problem!”

 

  
“Oh well, let’s just do what the recipe says, maybe you have a shorter cook time.”

 

  
Jaemin nodded, “Probably. Look, the other two are ahead of us; let’s hurry up so we don’t look like fools.”

 

  
Jeno snorted, “It’s too late for that. So much for wanting smoother cooking.”

 

  
“Yeah, don’t get your macarons in a twist. It’s not our fault you guys can’t read.” Donghyuck said.

 

  
Renjun raised an eyebrow, “Is that why you’re pouring the almonds into the mixture instead of sieving it?”

 

  
Donghyuck looked down and tutted, “Oh shit, now I’m gonna get lumpy macarons and look like a dumbass.”

 

  
“It’s too late for that,” the other pair said in unison, giggling.

 

  
“Oh well, “Donghyuck sighed, “Maybe I’ll start a lumpy macaron trend, who knows?”

 

  
Jaemin glanced down at his recipe, while sieving in the cocoa powder, anticipating his next move. Apart from the beef about the oven, his work was going fairly smoothly. The consistencies looked decent, and although he didn’t want to jinx anything, he was satisfied with how things were going so far. He was working slightly quicker than Renjun, who had to grate lemon peels before he could finish his batter. So, by the time he was almost finished piping the macarons, Renjun was only just adding the dry ingredients to the whipped egg whites. Jaemin walked off to place his macarons in the waiting room and was quickly stopped by the teacher.

  
“Nice macarons,” she said, “Let me come with you to the waiting room, I want to ask you about something.”

  
Jaemin was nervous to say the least. Although he was much taller than his teacher, by about 20 centimetres, she had an aura that screamed ‘I am better than you are’. Quickly, he placed the macarons down and wrote his name on some paper, so no one would try to take them.

  
“What’s the matter, um, Miss um, Bae?“ He asked nervously.

 

 

“I’m slightly concerned with the amount of disruption that’s come from your table,” she began, “Is this going to affect your work in the future?”

 

  
He took a deep breath and coughed, “No, sorry. We were just having some fun is all. Everything’s good.”

 

  
“Ok. Because I don’t tolerate bullshit in my lessons. Have fun? Please do, but start any actual drama or break equipment? You will be out of this class before you can beg me to give you a second chance, and remember, failing a class means you fail this whole year.”

 

  
Jaemin nodded, now very worried, and walked very quickly back to his table with his tail between his legs.

  
“You good?” Renjun asked, noticing his friend’s bewildered look.

 

  
“Uh, I think Miss Bae threatened to kick us out of class,” he said.

 

  
Donghyuck cocked an eyebrow, “Is our baking that bad?”

 

  
Jaemin shrugged, “All I know is that she was basically like if you do some dumb shit again, I’ll kick you out and you’ll fail this year. I don’t know about you guys but I’m not failing this year. Not after my terrible exam results.”

 

  
“Ok well,” Jeno said, trying to lighten the mood, “That’s not going to happen. Because we are gonna be so well behaved AND we’re gonna make amazing macarons, ok?”

  
The boys all high fived each other and cheered, before returning to their workstations to finish. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry I've been terrible with updating; I literally had 3/4 of this written out last week (after I lost everything) then I literally forgot I was writing this, coincidentally while baking all week. I think this chapter is pretty dialogue heavy, I get the vibe this is how it's gonna pan out during most patisserie sessions as we see the group's dymanic change. Anyway thanks so much for reading, and supporting this even though I don't know what an organised schedule is.


	4. Ice Cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I'm sorry, my updating skills are absolutely whack but we're back with another chapter.  
> Just wanna TW though, there is talk of SUICIDE towards the end. No one kills themselves, but they do mention it in conversation. Thanks to everyone that's read this mess and to everyone that will read it :)

  
With steely determination, Jeno was ready to make the best macarons the class had ever seen. Upon re-examining his cooking ability, he changed his goal to making something that vaguely looked and tasted like macarons. After the incident with Miss Bae, he was desperate to prove that the group was more than just a bunch of assholes with no talent. The three others, he assumed, thought the same thing as they all had their heads down, either making their buttercream or piping macarons.

  
The recipe was a simple American, and although he didn’t mind this flavour, he overhead someone from a different group go on about how basic it was. Not basic as in the recipe, the mystery boy had made a point to explain; but the flavour. Whatever that meant.

  
Jeno made a point to loudly compliment the recipe to Donghyuck, even if he didn’t know what he was talking about. Miss Bae had no reaction to his words, but he was 90% sure he was on his way to becoming one of her favourites.

  
Once his buttercream was made, he checked on his macarons on the oven.

  
Not burnt.

  
Result.

  
They looked ok, but just to be on the safe side, Jeno added another minute to his timer. The others raised eyebrows, thinking maybe he was about to burn something again, but what they didn’t know was that Jeno had a plan. A bad one probably, but a plan. And perhaps it involved stealing Renjun’s macarons and running. But not running because running in a kitchen was dangerous.  
Once the timer went off, Jeno exhaled deeply and pulled the treats out of the oven. They looked… cooked? Good almost, but he didn’t want to jinx it.

  
He left the tray on his worktop and began to fan it with a tea towel. After a minute or so, they were stable enough for him to pick up and see if they were completely cooked. A shell had coated the bottom of the macarons, confirming that they were indeed, cooked. He let out a small yelp of joy, and Renjun nodded to him from the opposite side of the table. Jeno picked up all the macarons and turned them over, and then left them to cool down more evenly. Renjun’s batch had just come out the oven as well, and as usual, they looked amazing.

  
Jaemin and Donghyuck returned with their macarons and quickly put them in the oven. Miss Bae was an absolute stickler for cleanliness, so the boys started cleaning their stations. 15 minutes later, the second batch of macarons was out the oven and the first batch was ready to pipe.

  
Jeno’s buttercream was caramel, giving a little contrast to the pale colour of his macarons. Once he had successfully piped all 20, he breathed a sigh of relief and went to present them to Miss Bae.

 

  
“Honestly,” she said after taking a small bite, “These macarons taste amazing. I don’t know if you’ve made them before, or you have some kind of baker’s touch, but I’m astounded. The amount of caramel isn’t too sweet, and I love the addition of salt you have as well. It really balances everything out.”

 

  
Jeno could have confessed that the salt was an accident and he got it confused for sugar but said nothing. He had no idea when his next compliment was going to be, and he wanted to bask in it.  
He walked back beaming, and gently packed up his macarons in a Tupperware box. Renjun came back from Miss Bae’s assessment feeling a little dejected.

 

  
“She said they were beautiful, but she said the lemon flavour didn’t come through enough in the buttercream. I’m this close to throwing a lemon at her face and-“

 

  
Jaemin slammed his hand on Renjun’s mouth, “Shut up dumbass. Do you really want to get in trouble? Just calm down and add more next time.”

 

  
“Your macarons will probably taste great, “Renjun huffed, “Those shells are just so smooth.”

 

  
“If it makes you feel better,” Jeno chuckled, “Donghyuck’s are definitely not. Always read the recipe first folks.”

 

  
Donghyuck could only glare as he piped his buttercream. Apart from obvious brown specs in the strawberry dessert, the macarons didn’t look too bad, and he looked slightly optimistic as he went with Jaemin to get them criticized.

 

 

“So,” Jeno said, leaning over the table to talk to his roommate, “Jaemin and Donghyuck. What do you think?”

 

  
“I uh… didn’t realise they were a thing?” Renjun replied, “But I guess it’s cute?”

 

  
“What? No, you idiot. I just meant in general. Like, is Jaemin a good baking partner? Do u think he has like a secret criminal record or something.”

 

  
Renjun snorted, “Yeah he’s cool I guess. Funny. Also I’m dead jealous of his baking skills but I won’t tell him that. I reckon the four of us should get to know each other if we’re gonna have to bake together for a year.”

 

  
Jeno nodded in agreement, “I think so too. Donghyuck seems like a massive laugh, I wanna be his friend.”

 

  
“Thanks bitch,” Donghyuck said from behind him, “I would want to be my friend to honestly.”

 

  
“I take that back,” said Jeno, “I don’t need anyone who makes lumpy macarons in my friend group.”

 

  
“Actually,” Donghyuck tutted, “I believe the word she used was grainy. Something about it detracting from the flavour of strawberry. Oh well I was never cut out to be a baker.”

 

  
“Cheer up, dude,” Jaemin smiled, gently putting his macarons into a container, “You’ll find your way soon enough.”

 

  
“Ok, Mr Your-Macarons-Are-Perfect-Well-Done,” Donghyuck huffed, “Once you fail at making something, you’ll understand the struggle we’re going through.”

 

  
Once they had cleaned down their stations properly, Miss Bae let the class go, nodding approvingly at Jeno and Jaemin.

 

  
“What do you guys want to do now?” Renjun said, “We have time before dinner so maybe we can go for a walk or something?”

 

  
“I have to be honest,” Jeno said, “I should probably get some exercise done. There’s a cool track outside that I like to run.”

 

  
“Oh, you work out?” Jaemin asked, “I mean uh, of course you do-“his eyes widened as Donghyuck snorted in the background,” No! Not like that just I meant-“

 

  
“I know what you meant,” Jeno said, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder, chuckling, “And yeah I do. I usually have a serious regime but there really isn’t much of a gym here so I have to make do.”

 

  
“Oh, can I run with you then? I do a bit of exercise as well and if you have a good route, maybe we can go together?” Jaemin asked.

 

  
Jeno nodded,” I mean, if you can keep up, let’s do it. I’m kind of a professional when it comes to these things.”

 

  
This proved to be too much for Donghyuck who literally cracked up. Renjun followed suit, after unsuccessfully acting like he didn’t’ care about the conversation going on. Jaemin scratched the back of his neck and Jeno could swear he saw muscle definition.

  
A bit of exercise, my ass he thought. Jaemin was probably a bodybuilder or something. His workout regimen was probably so insane. Jeno just had to know what is was. Hopefully he didn’t make himself look like a fool when he called himself a professional. If he ran with Jaemin and tripped or something, it would be a massive L.

  
The two boys headed to Jaemin’s room to get changed, leaving the howling boys in the courtyard. His roommate wasn’t there, so Jeno took the opportunity to grill his new friend on his workout habits.

  
“So what is it you usually do? Are you a free weights or machines guy? What’s your choice of cardio, what do you usually eat? Do you stay within your macros? Do you count macros?”

 

  
Jaemin looked taken aback with all the questions, so Jeno carried on changing quietly, hoping he hadn’t scared him away.

 

  
“I don’t really have a routine to be honest,” Jaemin said,” I just go to the gym a couple times a week and just go hard? I guess I try to eat healthy but if anything, I’m fuelling my brain, not my body.”  
Jeno shrugged, “That’s fair enough. I’ve been super fanatic about this kinda stuff since forever, I guess? It’s difficult to get out of that mindset. Not that I want to! I like being in control of what I eat and when I exercise.”

 

  
“Chenle mentioned you were a model or something?” Jaemin replied, “I didn’t want to say anything, I thought maybe you’d be uncomfortable but is that why?”

 

  
“He knows?” Jeno said, feeling slightly awkward.

 

  
“Chenle knows everyone and everything, honestly, “Jaemin grinned,” But I just want to say I had no idea. I only really follow intellectuals. Wait, that came out wrong, shit. I don’t mean you’re stupid, I just-“

 

  
That was enough for Jeno to burst out laughing, “No it’s ok. I get it. Clearly, I’m just not good enough for you.”

 

  
“Not yet,” Jaemin chuckled,” But you’ll be a decent workout partner.”

 

  
Jeno was relieved he had shifted the conversation from his past. He had no problem with people knowing he was a model, he was just worried about people using him. It had happened before, and he was wary about it happening again. He reckoned he would have to talk to Eunbin at some point; she was about as well known as he was so Jeno was sure she’d have some wisdom to share.  
Once they were changed, the boys did some quick sketches and started to head out. Coincidentally, Chenle was coming in for a quick nap before dinner.

 

  
“Oh hello,” he smirked, “When Renjun mentioned you were going on a run together, I thought he was joking. Oh well, never underestimate the power of testosterone I guess. See you guys later!”

 

  
Both boys were so confused about what Chenle was saying but they paid no mind to it. He was the type of guy to say cryptic things and leave everyone confused. The second the boys were outside, they began running, and already, Jeno felt like himself.

  
But with every blessing, was a curse.

  
And Jeno’s was to remember how he felt before he came. How he felt when people started to judge the way he looked. He was too short, not muscular enough, too this, too much of that; it was as if he was just a plaything and not a teenage boy. 4-hour long workouts out of desperation to impress his bosses in fear of getting dropped from an agency.

  
_Why now?_ He thought.

  
His morning run wasn’t this stressful, but it was as if everything hit him at once and he just couldn’t handle it. So he did what he knew best.

  
And ran faster.

  
He forgot about Jaemin, about the beautiful views, and just channelled everything into this run. He wanted to run away from his problems and finally be free of who he-

  
**HONK**

  
Jeno felt a strong grip on his arm pulling him back onto the pavement. He collapsed backwards onto Jaemin, panting heavily. Blinking back into reality, the first thing he saw was an angry mustang driver park his car at the side of the road, and march over to the boys screaming.

 

  
“Do you not LOOK where you’re going?” He yelled, “You could have been injured, or my car dented, you stupid child.”

 

  
Jeno just sat there catching his breath, as Jaemin stood up and confronted the man. Jeno couldn’t make out the words being said, but it looked like Jaemin knew what he was doing as the man eventually scurried off with his tail between his legs.

  
Jaemin ran back to Jeno, embracing him on the pavement, and pulled his head into his chest. Jeno noticed the fact that it must have started to rain, judging by the droplets of water falling onto his lap. A couple of seconds later, he realised he was crying.

  
The walk back to the school was less awkward than Jeno thought. Jaemin kept up good conversation, ignoring what had just happened. He was recalling funny stories about his family when Jeno felt the sudden need to interject.

 

  
“Thank you,” he muttered, “Really.”

 

  
Jaemin hugged him again; Jeno noting how nice Jaemin’s hugs actually were, “It’s ok. As long as you’re ok, that’s what I care about. But, I have to ask, you didn’t do that on purpose, did you?”

 

  
“No!” Jeno exclaimed,” No. I swear, I just, I had a lot on my mind. I really wasn’t paying attention is all.”

 

  
Nodding, Jaemin released him from his grip and grabbed his hand instead.

  
_Jaemin was very affectionate. How interesting._

  
Jaemin continued talking, and the conversation turned to an ice cream stall on a side road.

 

  
“That looks very good,” Jeno said, “Shame none of us have money.”

 

  
Chuckling, Jaemin produced some change from his shorts pocket, “Never leave the house without cash, my mum always said to me. Looks like she was right.”

 

 


End file.
